The letter began with the words, "Call me 'Il Matto'" and soon came the story of the white whale... oops that's all wrong. Damn, showed my buttocks again. Anyway Il Matto attended the Toronto Film Fest and wanted to contribute his/her look at the fest films they saw. Compare this to the others and you get a good idea of how the films were. This is the third big list of these I believe. Man, wish I could of been there, sounds like a fantastic orgy of films. Nothing like excess I say. Well here is what Il Matto has to say:
Here are brief descriptions of and some comments on movies I saw at the Toronto Film Fest a little over a week ago.
Nil By Mouth (directed by Gary Oldman):
Hard look at South London life, full of drinking, drugging, abusing men and the women who love them. A little too naturalistic for me, the scenes go on forever.
C'est la Tangente que je Prefere (Love, Math, and Sex) (Charlotte Silvera):
Sabine is a street smart fifteen year old math wiz, who supports her family by babysitting, stealing waiters tips, and selling math answers to her classmates. She is more mature than her parents, but not as mature as she thinks, as she learns when she enters into an affair with a forty year old Czech playwrite. I liked this one a lot.
Office Killer (Cindy Sherman):
Low budget, not very well made slasher movie with a pretty professional cast, mostly giving really bad performances. Carol Kane is the psycho, also with Jeanne Tripplehorn, and Barbara Sukowa. Only Molly Ringwald and Michael Imperiolo don't stink.
Moon Over Broadway (Chris Hegedus, D.A. Pennebaker):
Documentary about the staging of the Broadway farce, "Moon Over Buffalo", a couple of years back. A pretty fascinating look at the process, and the compromises and politicking involved. I was surprised to hear that star Carol Burnett wasn't devastated by this movie, and that she actually liked it, given the bad light it shows her in.
The Girl With Brains In Her Feet (Roberto Bangura):
delightful coming of age story about a thirteen year old, mixed race, chain smoking, track star in 1972 Leicestershire, England. The screenplay, by Jo Hodges, is autobiographical.Lots of adolescent schoolgirl talk concerning willies and such. Certainly appeals to the dirty old man in me. Sex, drugs, and T Rex.
Henry Fool (Hal Hartley):
Henry is a hard living, artistic type, who convices a Long Island garbage man to write poetry. A look into the nature of art, and not a very good one, according to me.Only the presence of Parker Posey makes this a little worth while.
Life During Wartime (Evan Dunsky):
Mildly amusing black comedy about hot shot young home security salesman David Arquette, with Stanley Tucci as his boss, a man who will will go to any lengths to insure people need his services, and Kate Capshaw as his older girlfriend.
The Myth of Fingerprints (Bart Freundlich):
Overwrought, pretentious, cliched, "dysfunctional family has Thanksgiving dinner" piece of shit with Noah Wiley, Blythe Danner, Julianne Moore, and Roy Scheider. I never liked Woody Allen's "Interiors", but it was terrific compared to this junk. Every single character is artificial.
Suicide Kings (Peter O'Fallon):
Preppie friends, to pay the ransom of the girl who is the sister of one and the lover of another, kidnap a gangster and torture him in hopes he will get the money or use his muscle to get her freed. If this makes no rational sense to you, you get the picture. I was afraid to leave the theater for fear of falling in a plot hole. Part way through, I predicted a possible ending for the film, then quickly discarded it when I realized it wasn't logical. Of course it was the ending. This poorly done Pulp Fiction/Usual Suspects ripoff wastes the talents of Dennis Leary, Henrey Thomas, Sean Patrick Flannery, and Jay Mohr, though Johnny Galecki (Darlenes husband from Roseanne) is pretty cool as the nerdiest preppie, and Christopher Walken plays the Christopher Walken role as the gangster.
The Mirror (Jafar Panahi):
This sort of sequel to "The White Baloon", about a first grade girl in Iran trying to get home after her mother fails to pick her up after school, was my favorite film of the festival, and my favorite film so far this year. It's funny and and real, and about half way through, just when I was wondering if a movie could sustain such a slim premise for 90 minutes, Panahi throws in a wonderful twist that, totally rejuvenates the story. See this when it comes to your town.
Gummo (Harmony Korine):
Imagine John Waters' maladjusted brother collaborating with Oliver Stone and Robert Downey Sr. to do American Graffitti, set in Xenia, Ohio. This is that movie. Korine is the kid who wrote "Kids", and these kids make those kids look like happy, positive, altruists. Features cat killing kids, a Down's Syndrome kid being pimped by her father, and bleach blond kids with electrical tape on their nipples. All this, and the return of Linda Manz (the girl in "Day's of Heaven") too. Proceed at your own risk.
Clock Watchers (Jill Sprecher):
Four temps (Toni Collette, Lisa Kudrow, Parker Posey, Allana Ubach), learn a little about self confidence and their way in life, in this amusing comedy.
Wings of the Dove (Ian Softley):
Romantic triangle, based on the Henry James novel, starring Helena Bonham Carter, Linus Roache, and Alison Elliott, with Elizabeth McGovern, Michael Gambon, and the still lovely Charlotte Rampling. Every aspect of this movie is well done. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and then in the last scene, Carter gets completely naked and has hot sex. Talk about a cherry on your whipped cream!
Full Tilt Boogie (Sarah Kelly):
Fun Documentary about the making of the vampire flick, "From Dusk to Dawn", which was directed by Robert Rodriguez, and starred George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, and Quentin Tarantino, who also scripted. Interesting insights into the movie making process, crew camraderie, union problems, and prostheses. Highlights: an interview with Michael Parks, a Karaoke performance by Juliette Lewis at a local bar, and the ebulience of Clooney's zaftig personal assistant.
The Spanish Prisoner (David Mamet):
The most Hitchcockian movie I've ever seen that wasn't directed by Hitchcock, written in Mamet's trademark style. Campbell Scott plays the the Cary Grant/Jimmy Stewart part, Ben Gazzara is the boss, Steve Martin is the mystery man , Ricky Jay is the buddy, and Rebecca Pidgeon (Mamet's wife) is really special as the assistant who may be good or may be bad. One will either find the ending thought provoking or unsatisfying. I found it the latter, but still enjoyed this movie a lot.
Chinese Box (Wayne Wang):
Leukemic journalist Jeremy Irons chases after Gong Li, who loves another, and gets non-romantically involved with facially scarred Maggie Cheung, in the six months leading up to the June Hong Kong takeover, as photographer Ruben Blades singsand plays guitar. Filmed as the events were taking place, director Wang's big regret was that the smoothness of the transfer of power denied the film some possible drama. It could have used it.
Keep the Aspidistra Flying (Robert Bierman):
More period Helena Bonham Carter, this time with Richard E. Grant, in George Orwell's somewhat autobiographical story of an advertising copywriter who chucks it all to lead the life of a poet, but mostly just grouses about how miserable it is to be middle class. Carter is the understanding girlfriend who suffers by him during his follies.
The Maker (Tim Hunter):
Riveting noir drama about an an academically oriented, basically good, drug using, petty criminal, eighteen year old, who's long unseen, older brother shows up and tries to lead him into a real life of crime. With Matthew Modine and Jonathan Rhys-Myers as the brothers, Fairuza Balk as the butch best friend, Mary Louise Parker as the cop/older woman, and Michael Madsen as the coke crazed fence.
TwentyFourSeven (Shane Meadows):
Bob Hoskins plays a Thatcher era Nothingham man who starts a boxing club to keep the post-teen unemployed youths off the street. The black and white cinematography is great, and many of the images are breathtaking, but aren't always always integrated into the whole.
Afterglow (Alan Rudolph):
Handyman Nick Nolte is married to former B movie star Julie Christie, and harried housewife Lara Flynn Boyle is married to hotshot executive Jonny Lee Miller. They have cross affairs, without each other's mates knowledge, with Montreal standing in for Montreal. There are shades of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf", and lots of sly humor. Rudolph told the audience before the movie started that they would either love it or they wouldn't. I did.
Two Girls and a Guy (James Toback):
Heather Graham and Natasha Gregson Wagner each have had a devoted loving boyfriend for the past ten months, who has professed his love using the exact same words. Both guys turn out to be the same guy, and Robert Downey Jr. (fresh from rehab) spends the next 90 minutes trying to weasel out this bad situation. A very lively movie, most enjoyable.
Inspirations (Michael Apted):
Seven artists (sculptor Nora Naranjo-Morse, architect Tadao Ando, painter Roy Lichtenstein, musician David Bowie, dancer Louise Lecavalier, choreographer Edward Lock, and glass artist Dale Chihuly) discuss the artistic process in separate interviews, and are shown at work. They are all pretty much on the same page. A pleasure to watch.
Lover Girl (Lisa Addario and Joe Siracuse):
Abandoned teen Tara Subkoff is rejected by her lowlife sister Kristy Swanson and is taken in by by massage parlor manager Sandra Bernhard and her colleagues. Before you know it, Tara sort of has a new profession. Despite the subject matter , the movie isn't very sleazy. It also isn't very good.
The Sticky Fingers of Time (Hilary Brougher):
Very low budget,very good, time travel sci-fi film noir, with female leads.
Boogie Nights (Paul Thomas Anderson):
Epic tale of the adult film business from '77 to '84, owing a lot stylistically to "Goodfellas", but not in a derivative way, with Burt Reynolds as diector Jack Horner, Julianne Moore as his wife Amber Waves, Mark Wahlberg as the 13" Dirk Diggler, and Heather Graham as Roller Girl, who will do any thing but take off her blades.Don Cheadle, William H. Macy, and Ricky Jay are also along for the ride. Many scenes last ten minutes or more, but never flag. And like "Goodfellas", the period music is used wonderfully, and there are fantastic depictions of the effects of cocaine on it's users. The scene with Alfred Molina is one for the ages. The director (the son of Ghoulardi) is a fan of the subject matter, and this movie is a loving tribute to a bygone era.
Now damn did this guy see a ton of films or what? Sheesh! Good work!!!
